Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Arborio Rice Pudding TWD


It is a Saturday night in Autumn. A gorgeous 51 year old woman feels the heat of the night. Is it perhaps a Spaniard, his hot breath on the back of her neck? Or a forgotten lover, here to reclaim the woman he never truly let go of in the inner depths of his heart?

Naw. She is at the stove making Arborio Rice Pudding.
And yes, this pudding may break her heart just like many men have done before. 'Why' you ask? Because she didn't read the part about bubbling away. No, she just assumed simmer. Never assume. The dawn of the morning will slap her in the noggin with reality. She is not a fan of reality. She prefers to believe that all the men in her grocery checkout line are there to give her money because she is an amazing woman. Reality is fat cells and gray hair. Reality sort of sucks. Why would anyone go on a reality show, and then who is dumber? Them? Or us for watching them? Where was I? Oh yeah, reality. Reality is why I am making rice pudding on a Saturday night.

This is week 3 for me with Tuesday's With Dorie and I am really enjoying it because so far these are all new things for me. But! Big but, get it? Yes, reality was a bitch this morning. It tasted good but was nothing near a pudding. Soupy sweet milk rice. Back to the stove with these babies, arborio and vanilla bean are too pricey to not try to rescue. Some other TWDer's tried reheating it and so I did too and it worked pretty well. Is it perfect? I have never had rice pudding so I don't know but who really cares? It tastes good and that is the real goal isn't it?

I doubled the recipe because the reality of 4 servings sort of sucked.

1/3 of the rice pudding was added to the scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean.

1/3 of the rice pudding was added to 2 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate.
1/3 of the rice pudding was added to cinnamon, apricot and cranberry, but reheating this one didn't work out, it just turned color from the dried fruit cooking with it and the milk separated so you don't get a photo of that one because it is in the happy land of fertilize the planet.

Round 2, Sunday. I am making a double batch this time also, but with 4 cups of milk to start, get to the bubbling point and then we will see what happens. Stay tuned for the results.

30 minutes was not the time, nor was approximately 30 minutes. 45 minutes seemed to be the magic number. I still only got 4 servings, at least what I call a serving. Perhaps the extra milk would have made more but the cooking time would have been longer I am sure. Also, having never made rice pudding I may have gone 5 minutes too long. I just made sure I got it to a thickened stage.

I enjoyed this, but I absolutely love risotto and so with the cost of arborio, I will most likely make risotto instead of rice pudding.

14 comments:

Steph said...

Amber, you are hilarious!! I enjoyed that post... what a way to start off Tuesday moring! I totally agree with you on wasting, that's why I always halve recipes. It kills me when I have to throw stuff out. I'm glad you managed to salvage it, I definitely would have considering a real vanilla bean went into it.

Danielle said...

Too funny!! I am glad you were able to save your pudding!

Maria said...

I could dig right into one of those bowls...or both:)

Anne said...

Funny post! I'm glad you got it right in the end and I agree it looks wonderful (especially the first photo- yum!)

Jessica said...

The pudding looks amazing! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I ordered a silcone kugelhopf pan online at this site http://www.akitchen.com/ I was debating whether or not I needed an extra pan but I figured that if it's silicone that it will mush up and fit in my cabinets; thus, it's ok! The pumpkin pan I got a few years ago at Williams Sonoma and I love it. It's nordicware and you can still find it at other online sites.

Mim said...

Funny Amber
It looks good as does the risotto.
Ewww is right. green jello, oleo, white bread.
was that the food we had in the 50's and 60's?
Oleo... horrible.
Mim

Debbie said...

I really enjoyed your post. I love risotto too, but there is not enough chocolate in the world to make me eat rice pudding. Yuk! It's a small world. My hubby thinks he knows you. He is also a grocery checker and works for a company with the starting letter R in northern California.

Engineer Baker said...

The vanilla one looks absolutely perfect texture-wise, but I have to admit that I like risotto more than rice pudding too.

Jodie said...

I love your post. Your rice pudding looks great- I love the chilly-looking bowls. Welcome to the group. I look forward to reading more!

Kimberly Johnson said...

Hilarious post! Your pudding looks great!

Anonymous said...

Love the post! I enjoyed the recipe but agree that risotto is for the risotto that includes parm cheese!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it is so easy to screw up rice pudding, I have done it so many times...there are always too many directions! Yours looks good though, I hope it was wonderful!

Leslie said...

YOu are sooo funny! You know those men are giving you money cause the WANT you!
You know what happens when you ASSUME>>!!Silly silly girl!
I have been good..but incrediably busy working on my reality show!!!LOL
No seriously,,I have caught up on some much needed housework and organizing!!
I though I was being original with my Reese;s cake, but obviously it has been done many times. I huess I am not soooo smart after all!!!!

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious, Amber :)
The pudding (both varieties)looks absolutely perfect! And I know that for sure, it's my favorite dessert (well, one of my favorite).